The
Marfa National Bank (in the Brite Building) once served as Headquarters
for the Marfa Army Air Field (1942)
TE photo

Besides being
used as a locale for the movie Giant, and other films, Marfa
also served as a base for military aviationwhen they were
still using biplanes. Known as Marfa Army Air Field, they built
it in early 1942 and graduated their first pilots on the first anniversary
of the attack
on Pearl Harbor.

Marfa almost had a pass to skate through the depression with the
economic bedrock of having a Cavalry Post stationed there (the1st Cavalry Regiment). Airplanes though, proved more effective
at patrolling the border, and so Fort D. A. Russell (formerly
Camp Marfa) was closed in 1933. It was reactivated for a few
years by other than Cavalry units and then during WWII
it housedWACs,
several Chemical Battalions and a large German Prisoner of War
Camp.

After the war it was deactivatedpermanently in 1946 and
the buildings were sold or incorporated into the present-day city
in 1949.

Recommended
reading

Wings Over the Mexican Border:
Pioneer Military Aviation in the Big Bend
by Kenneth Baxter Ragsdale
U of Texas Press, 1984

This
is an excellent history of the fledgling air corps when they flew
in and out of Johnson's Ranch while they monitored the Mexican Revolution
and possible incursions across the border. Planes were sometimes filled
from a drum on the back of Mr. Johnson's truck. Mr. Ragsdale tells
us in this book that the first "dogfight" in history took place in
Mexican skies with two American mercenary pilots (working for opposite
sides) shooting at one another with pistols.

If you're fortunate enough to live in Marfa, Librarian Esther Sanchez
says the book is available at the Marfa Library (915-729-4631).
Michelle at theMarfa Book Companysays that
they usually keep two copies on hand (105 S. Highland).